People trust online reviews as much as they trust their friends and family when making decisions. That’s why businesses of all types have been investing heavily in getting their brand out there, whether it’s through social media, paid advertising, or other means. 

However, with that comes a level of scrutiny you likely haven’t considered. Whether people like to admit it or not, online reviews can make up a significant percentage of your business’s page views. 

Therefore, if you want to get the most from them, Read more about the top 5 ways you should be using them for your business:

Online Reviews in 2022

With more than 1 billion online shoppers visiting e-commerce sites, it’s not too far-fetched to imagine the power of online reviews will reach 2 billion by 2022. And, given the fact that more than half of all consumers trust online reviews as much as they trust their friends, it’s worth researching how to get the most from your online reviews in the long run. At the moment, companies are already seeing that data have a significant impact on their bottom line. 

For example, in late 2018, Amazon teamed up with an online research company called The Survey Corps to study the impact of online reviews on sales. The results showed that every one-star difference in product reviews resulted in a sales difference of approximately $125,000 per year. In short, online reviews have the power to impact your bottom line. So, how can you maximize this revenue?

Role of Online Reviews

Marketing Tool

Before you start pouring time and resources into collecting and curating reviews, it’s important to see where they can fit into your marketing strategy. While reviews might not be the primary source of awareness for your brand, they can be a highly effective marketing tool. As long as you continue to provide high-quality content with the primary focus on the customer experience, you can use both positive and negative reviews to improve your brand equity. There are also several ways you can use reviews to boost your marketing efforts. For example, you can pay for reviews on platforms like Fiverr and Swagbucks. You can also hire a company to increase your online reviews in exchange for a fee.

Product Development Tool

Whether the goal is to create a new product or improve on an existing one, online reviews are a great tool for product development. To begin, you can collect customer reviews on your website, in-store, and social media pages. Next, you can use this data to improve your product offerings. 

For example: When making your product packaging, consider incorporating labeling and digital stickers that highlight the customer ratings. This will allow customers to see firsthand how other people have rated your product. 

Invest time into designing your customer experience so you can incorporate elements like button badges and video reviews that highlight your brand story. This will allow you to incorporate a richer customer experience into the product itself.

Finally, you can choose to partner with a product development company that specializes in customer experience improvement. This can help you bring your ratings to the next level by optimizing your product for an optimal rating.

Employee Evaluation Tool

Given that most online reviews focus on your products, you’re naturally more likely to score high ratings on reviews if you offer a great customer experience. That’s why it’s so important to invest in your customer service. 

By ensuring your team is well-trained and equipped with the right technology, you can ensure your customers have a positive experience and are more likely to leave you a review. 

This can also include things like:

  • Responding to emails within an hour.
  • Ensuring your representatives clearly understand the customer’s problem and solution.
  • Being proactive and making your team have a process in place for resolving common problems.

5 Tips in Using Online Reviews

1. Create an Editorial Calendar

One important thing you can do to get the most out of your online reviews creates an editorial calendar for them. With an editorial calendar, you can create a list of dates on which you’ll post reviews. In other words, you’ll have a set period after a customer makes a purchase during which you can leave a review. 

This gives you a great opportunity to get more reviews, while also allowing you to avoid posting on days where you might not have anything positive to say (or on days when you’re just too tired to post anything at all). Why is this important? 

First, with an editorial calendar in place, you can drastically increase the number of reviews you get compared to those who don’t. Second, by scheduling your review posts to fall on days when you’re not too tired, too busy, or too frustrated, you’re more likely to post a review that’s constructive, helpful, and genuine.

2. Respond to Reviews Immediately

One of the best ways you can make sure you’re getting the most out of your online reviews is by giving them the attention they deserve. That means you shouldn’t be waiting for someone to leave you a review before you respond. Instead, you should be waiting for a customer to comment on your post, and thanking them for it—as soon as you’re done reading their review. 

For example, let’s say a customer leaves a 1-star review about your service. Instead of waiting for them to leave you a response to your review, you should be waiting for them to leave a comment on your post. Once you’ve read it, go straight to your comment and respond to the customer’s review. 

By doing this, you’re showing the customer you care about their experience with your business, while also letting them know their review has been read and acknowledged. This also sets a great example for other customers who might read your review and be concerned about the experience they had. In other words, this is a great way to respond to reviews the right way.

3. Use a Reputation Management Platform

Another way to make sure you’re getting the most out of your online reviews is by using a reputation management platform. Reputation management platforms are quickly becoming a critical part of eCommerce marketing. They’re quickly becoming a must-have for many businesses, no matter their industry. 

Why? Because they lead to better sales, better reviews, and a better brand image. First, using a reputation management platform will save you a lot of time. Second, a reputation management platform will help you get more out of your online reviews. Again, this is because you can set up automated systems to help you respond to positive and negative reviews, while also managing any comments that may arise from them. 

And third, a reputation management platform will increase the overall number of reviews you receive. That’s because it’ll make it easy for you to post reviews on different platforms (like your blog, or your eCommerce store) and get them out there.

4. Don’t Be Afraid to Ask for Feedback

One of the most important things you can do to make the most out of your online reviews is to make sure you’re asking for feedback. That means, that when a customer has a chance to leave you a review, you shouldn’t be afraid to ask them for it. 

In other words, you shouldn’t be afraid to ask them to leave you a review, review your product or service, and explain how they feel about it. Even if you feel uncomfortable doing this, you should be. 

After all, reviews are one of the most important parts of your online marketing strategy. Why? Because they’re a chance for a customer to leave you a written review, which can lead to a ton of page views. And, as we’ve just seen, those page views can translate to more sales.

5. Provide Great Customer Service

The best way to make the most out of your online reviews is by providing great customer service. After all, if your customers have anything to say about it, you’ll be reaching out to respond to reviews, no matter how bad they are. 

That means, before you post your next review, make sure you’re ready to respond to the ones you receive. Once you’ve done that, make sure you’re ready to deal with any negative comments that may arise. 

To do this, spend time looking through the reviews you receive. Then, look at the negative ones, and see what you can learn from them.

Bottom Line

As you can see, online reviews have the power to impact your bottom line in several ways. This means it’s important to invest in getting your brand out there and collecting reviews. 

That said, it’s important to remember that there are several ways online reviews can boost your brand. This means it’s important to invest in getting your brand out there and collecting review

Articles You Might Want To Read:

Do Google Reviews Really Matter: What You Need to Know

The Value Of Online Reviews: How Customers Use Them To Make Buying Decisions

What to Expect When You Hire an Online Review Company